Budget Passes On 4th Attempt

Calls For 4.9 Percent Increase On Taxes

COVENTRY — After rejecting the proposed town budget three times in referendums that began in early May, voters Tuesday approved a spending plan by a vote of 1,228 to 1,053.

The $28.67 million budget requires a 3.7 percent spending increase, resulting in a 4.9 percent tax increase. That is significantly lower than the original budget rejected May 4, which called for a 12.6 percent tax increase.

The small crowd of budget supporters and school parents, who had gathered at town hall late Tuesday to see the votes tallied, broke into spontaneous applause when the totals were announced.

Town council Chairman James Clark expressed relief that the town had approved the spending plan.

He credited Shawn and Linda Fisher, among others, for spearheading an effort to mobilize residents to vote for the budget.

Shawn Fisher, a member of the Democratic town committee who was among those gathered at town hall, said he and others went door-to-door with the message that rejecting the budget would not just hurt town education, but cut overall social services and town services, such as snowplowing and the Meals on Wheels program.

``People had a lot of misunderstandings about the budget,'' he said.

One woman actually said she thought if she voted in the budget referendum she could not vote in the presidential election in November, he said.

``A lot of it is just educating and raising awareness and dispelling rumors,'' said Jen Beausoleil, another budget supporter at town hall.

Voter turnout was about 32 percent, with 2,281 of the town's 7,158 registered voters casting ballots.

The budget calls for spending $19,208,821 on schools, $6,532,647 on government, $2,444,132 to pay off debts and $486,122 on capital projects.

Each time the budget failed this summer, the council whittled more money from the bottom line, most recently by $124,500.

To keep the town running in the interim, the town council had approved and sent out tax bills, saving the town the cost of borrowing the money.

This year's drawn-out budget process contrasted sharply with last year's, when parents asked the school board to increase the superintendent's proposed budget and voters approved a townwide budget with a 7.1 percent increase in the first referendum.